Yes, we do indeed have enough

Committees

It was Eileen who asked me to carry out an audit on the governance of the Beaker Folk. “Burton,” she said, “don’t we have a few too many committees?

Naturally I rushed off to draw a diagram. And I have listed below the current Beaker committee structure.

A few things spring to mind. The first is that we can see the source of much aggravation between the various sub-committees within the Beaker committee structure. To take just one example – where do we draw the line between a barbecue (social) and a bonfire (worship)? If potatoes are roasted on the bonfire, does that make it a barbecue? It may sound like a pedantic point but these fine details have caused punch-ups in the past as everyone tries to establish where the boundaries lie.

We did experiment with some combined sub-committees – a group that combined members of the Little Pebbles management group, and the All Age planning sub-committee, for example. However in that instance it turned out that the members of both groups were the same – so we struggled to understand who was speaking in which capacity. Likewise, the Bingo and Flower Arranging groups are identical in membership – so they have to wear different hats so they remember what they’re supposed to talk about.

In summary, we now have enough committees to ensure that anyone who really wanted to, could go to a meeting every day to a month. So I have reported back to Archdruid that yes, we do indeed have enough committees.

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